Owner

"To be on the wire is life. The rest is waiting"
This is not a review of the DVD. I don't have the
DVD in my hand as of yet. What I do have for you is
some testimony to the most remarkable restoration I
have seen to date.
I touched upon this subject in the http://www.hometheaterforum.com/cal2001/report.html
Ronald Epstein (pronounced like the English "Ronald Epstein")
Circa 2000
Home Theater Forum Administrator
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Excellent news. When this hits DVD, I'll be giving it serious consideration. Last time I saw this film was on Bravo--panned and scanned, interrupted, edited for content. Bleah.
Here's hoping MGM gives us Fosse's Lenny on DVD one of these days.
--Jefferson Morris[Edited last by Jefferson Morris on October 06, 2001 at 08:52 PM]

"If fakes, they were masterpieces."

--The New York Times commenting on Willis O'Brien's dinosaurs in The Lost World (1925).

"From the two trailers I've seen, the movie looks like AIDS."--Recent thread post on AICN

Supporter

I just have to second what Ron says about All That Jazz. I saw the movie in its original run some 20-odd years ago. It's a great if painful film, in which director Bob Fosse literally dissects his own life. Roy Schieder gives a career-best performance as the Fosse character.
When we saw the restored clip last week at Fox, my mouth literally fell open and stayed that way for several minutes. I simply could not believe how good it looked - I could have sworn it had been filmed only in the past couple of years. Schawn Belston and his team deserve major kudos for the work they have done here.
I am so looking forward to this DVD. Fox scores again!!
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Too many DVDs, too little time...AFI 100 Challenge - 36 to go!

Three truths about movies, as noted by Roger Ebert:

* It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
* No good movie is too long, and no bad movie is short enough.
* No good movie is depressing, all bad movies are depressing.

Enough is enough, Disney. No more evasions or excuses. We DEMAND the release Song of the South on Blu-ray along with the uncut version of Bedknobs and Broomsticks on Blu-ray. I am going to boycott The Walt Disney Company until then. And while you're at it, PLEASE stop dropping DVD/laserdisc extras from Blu-ray releases of other films.

One of my favorite films also; my anticipation for this title has just been raised to a new level upon hearing how miraculous this restoration has turned out to be. As Ron pointed out, thank goodness this was done with love and care and admiration and not just another 'job'. Kudos to all involved, your efforts are truly appreciated.
Johnny B.

Reviewer

Just for the record, Ron...
The film stocks of the 70s and 80s are not problematic,
nor are they wasting away. Kodak produced some extremely
fine emulsions during these decades.
The problems would have been overprinting, as Schawn explained, and mishandling.
But the emulsions themselves are sound.
Schawn is doing some beautiful work.
RAH

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did." T.E. Lawrence

Owner

The film stocks of the 70s and 80s
are not problematic, nor are they wasting away. Kodak produced some extremely fine emulsions during these decades.

It is very interesting that you say this,
because what I reported is EXACTLY what has been
told to us by every studio's restoration team
we have met with.
In addition, Schawn from Fox talked about how
much better Kodak film stock is these days compared
to what it was.
I realize you are a professional restorationist.
However, I am just accurately reporting it as it
was heard from the sources.
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Ronald Epstein (pronounced like the English "Ronald Epstein")
Circa 2000
Home Theater Forum Administrator
All forum questions & to get on our private forum mailing list (new members)... Email: [email protected]
Problems with the webpage or site? Contact WEBMASTER
Email Packy [email protected]

Smokin' News news Ron !!! ATJ was my alltime fav for years - still in my top 5 .
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw your post a few minutes ago .
This will almost be as much fun as installing OSX on my Quicksilver .
Thanks
Eric

Reviewer

Of course today's Eastman stocks are better than those
from 20 or 30 years ago.
The point is not that today's emulsions aren't far
superior, but rather that the stocks beginning even in
the early 60s with Eastman 5250 and 5251 had nowhere near
the fading characteristics of the earlier 5248 -- that was
the bad egg. Since then, Kodak's emulsions -- both negative and print stock -- continue to get better and better.
RAH

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did." T.E. Lawrence

Interesting.
I have the Laser Disc, but I havn't watched it in quite a while. I remember it's formatted 4:3 (P & S ?) and maybe even analog sound only. Could definitely be improved on.
Ann Reinking in tights....sigh. Was anyone ever hotter?
The dance sequences were REALLY something, but the movie just wasn't as good as it could have been. Fatally flawed, kind like "Chorus Line".

I've only ever seen bits and pieces of this film, but I'll be buying it when it comes out. Please keep doing great restoration work Fox, it is appreciated.
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"It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen"
S&S Challenge: 72 ...24DVD BEAVER
My DVD Collection

I too can back up what Ron is saying about the quality of the restoration -- just a beautiful picture (at least in 35mm, we'll see about the DVD ).
To answer the obvious question, I asked Peter when he expects ATJ to street and he said they're aiming for late second quarter next year.
Rob
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"That suits me down to the ground."

Bob Fosse was a great dancer and a fantastic choreographer and All That Jazz is a wonderful movie. If anyone is counting, I will be buying this one as well, probably in at least duplicate. I was very happy to see news of it in the HTF LA meet report and here as well. Can't hardly wait, as they say.
(BTW, I was sorry to miss Studio Day -- I had fully intended to come to that and say "hi" to all my HTF buds. But life intervened that day and I never got there. Sigh. Maybe next year ....)
Deborah
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Owner

I am very proud that Schawn Belston took the
time to write me an email yesterday.
Schawn personally did the restoration on this
film, and wanted the following comments posted...

Hi Ron,
Thanks for your enthusiasm for ALL THAT JAZZ. The restoration of the film has certainly been an adventure, to say the least. I'm not a member of the HTF (internet challenged), so if you could pass along the following information to the topic, I'd appreciate it.
First off, Bob Harris is correct. The camera stock itself is stable...However, the CRI optical/dupe sections of JAZZ, and there are many, are quite faded.
Second, the stereo soundtrack is 4-track LCRS stereo, not 2-track. It is important to note that this is not a stereoized mono, but a careful restoration of Fosse's rarely heard original stereo mix.
The main reason I'm writing, though, is to point out that this restoration is part of an ongoing collaboration between Fox and the Academy Film Archive. Mike Pogorzelski, Director of the Academy Film Archive, worked many, many long hours on JAZZ, and deserves as much credit as anyone for the glorious job. Grover Crisp, VP of Asset Management at Sony, also lent an invaluable hand in the process (Columbia, as you know, was the film's original home).
I'm glad you liked the clip, and thrilled that you like the movie as much as I do!
Thanks for your support,
S
P.S. One last note: Now that the restoration of the film is complete, we are manufacturing new 35mm preservation elements on the film---so in a hundred years, the next guy will have elements to make a new neg.

Another HTF report, another title to add to my shopping list...
But I'm certainly looking forward to it. In the meantime,
I'll just offer my appreciation to all the people working
on this restoration. Few things make me as happy as seeing
great films given proper treatment, and I'm glad to hear
that Fox and Columbia are doing right by All That Jazz.
doug
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"How can it be the same movie if they've changed my character from a
tightly-wound convenience-store clerk to a jittery Eskimo
firefighter?... uh huh... uh huh... uh huh. Well, that's actually a
pretty good explanation..."
--James Woods, on The Simpsons

Supporter

I've never seen the film, but the clip we saw at Fox was simply amazing. The movie did capture my attention, so I will definitely check this out when it's released.
And after the clip of the restored M*A*S*H that we saw as well, I now have renewed interest in seeing this film again.
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